The self driving car has a major impact on ECUs power and complexity and the network architecture connecting them together. The sheer fact that the driver is now a mere passenger with potentially limited options of taking back control raises significant functional safety questions that cannot be addressed with conventional approaches. In this presentation, we discuss how autonomous driving is impacting the functional safety requirements for automotive Ethernet switches and PHYs. We will review what functional safety for a component really means, going beyond marketing figures and ticking off feature lists. Finally, we will discuss how NXP is attacking this challenge in our current portfolio with a hint to the products to come.
